The Silver Bandit
by phlawere
Summary: AU A demon...here? But...why? And why would he save us?
1. Silver Bandit

Yes. I know I am insane. Adding another story. Deal with it. This one's been in my head forever. If you haven't read my stuff before... Uh, just ignore me, then. :)Warning: Even though I _love_ this idea, I am going to focus on my other stuff first, b/c it's really only fair to those readers. Speaking of, I have drabbles I need to do now. Disclaimer: The gorgeous silver-haired boy that is this title's namesake, does not, unfortunately, belong to me. (Inuyasha, for those who don't live on this planet.)

* * *

High above the forest floor, hidden in the canopy of summer foliage, a pair of dark golden eyes watches.

They take in the steady drumming of hooves as the horses walk, the not-quite-silent creak of carriage wheels as they turn, following their charges. Low murmuring can be heard from the men at the ends of the reins, and the man watching the passing caravan smiles grimly to himself, wishing his life could be so easy.

He had been watching the small group since it had entered the twilight under the trees, keeping an extra eye out--and perhaps an ear cocked--for danger. He hadn't sensed anything so far, but that didn't mean the travelers were in the clear. It was still another two leagues through the _Shikon Mori_--The Sacred Forest--before the entourage reached it's destination, _Tama Shima_--The Jewel of the Isle, capital of the land and home of King Alaidir and Queen Nusema.

The tree man's ears twitch as the gentle sound of laughter reaches them, the silver tips perking for a second before focusing on the nearest wagon, where a slender arm is holding aside a curtain at the window. He can't see the woman, because her face is hidden by the shadow of the interior. More laughter reaches the man's sensitive ears, and he smiles a little at the sound, despite himself.

_Is that her, I wonder?_

The man tilts his head to the side and leans forward a little on his branch to keep the carriage in view as it passes a particularly large tree.

_It must be..._ he thinks, eyeing the guard riding beside the wagon with slight annoyance.

The rider has short, dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail, and is grinning widely at the female inside the carriage. He gives a low chuckle at whatever the girl is saying, before shaking his head.

The man in the tree frowns, wondering what the woman had said. He's so focused on the pair below, that it takes him a few seconds to hear the slight whistling of air as a dozen arrows fly from the forest opposite him and embed themselves in several of the wagons. The man pales slightly, and grips the branch he was perched on tightly with his claws.

He would not get involved unless it was absolutely necessary.

**OoooOoooO**

_This has been such a long trip..._

The ebony-haired girl sighs, stretching her arms out to the sides to loosen her muscles. She then raises them over her head to move her back. Everything was stiff from having sat for so long.

"Are we almost there, sis?"

The woman stares at her younger brother sitting across from her, his cheek resting on his hand while the boy stares blankly out the window, a bored expression making his young features droop. She nods.

"I think so, Sota. Miroku said it was on the other side of the forest..."

The girl pushes aside the curtain on the window, and speaks to the guard riding beside the carriage.

"Miroku? Didn't you say Tama Shima was just on the other side of the Shikon Mori?"

The man steers his charge closer to the wagon and flashes the girl a dazzling smile, putting on his best, 'I know you want me' smirk. The girl giggles.

"_Oui_, _mon cherie_," Miroku says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. The young woman laughs again, making the boy grin. "About another hour through the forest, _kyasha_, then we will be able to see the city on a rise in the distance."

The girl smiles at the nickname the man had given her, before turning to tell his response to her brother. The younger boy groans, then crosses his arms and slumps down in the seat.

"Sota is _soo_ excited to be going, he can't even contain his enthusiasm," she says rolling her eyes as she turns back to the guard. Miroku grins, then shakes his head.

"I know it's a long way, Kagome, but..."

The boy suddenly frowns and ducks low to his mount as an arrow passes through the spot where his head had just been.

"AMBUSH!" he yells, yanking open the door to the carriage and hauling the younger boy out and onto his lap. He reaches for Kagome's hand, and the girl quickly grabs two bags lying on the floor of the carriage before mounting behind the guard.

Miroku scans the rest of the caravan, seeing the other passengers being taken onto single horses and riding quickly toward their destination. He urges his horse into a gallop as the drivers of the wagons and the rest of the horsemen prepare to counterattack.

Kagome has a tight grip around Miroku's waist and is holding the back of her brother's tunic in her fist. She glances back quickly and gasps.

"They're using fire!" she yells, and feels the guard twist his head around, cursing silently as he sees the first few carriages catch, their sentries yelling in fright and anger as they jump to the ground.

"What're they after?" Sota yells above the wind rushing past their ears.

"Probably just raiders looking for loot," Miroku answers. He glances down at the boy in front of him, then looks at Kagome out of the corner of his eye.

_I hope... They're not royalty, but they're close..._

The guard absently wonders what happened to the siblings' parents, who were riding in one of the first carriages. He glances around and notices that there's no one near them now, slowing his mount to a walk to let the horse catch it's breath. Miroku fingers his sword, his senses still alert for danger.

"Do you think we lost them, Miroku?" Kagome whispers. She lets go of her brother's shirt, and loosens her hold on the older boy's waist to look behind them. The girl can see smoke rising in the distance, and vague sounds of fighting, but everything near them was quiet.

"I don't know," Miroku says. The boy stares around them in all directions, noting the pointed absence of _any_ kind of sound.

_It's too quiet..._

Miroku frowns and is about to enter a trot, when he hears a yell from above them. Before he can react, however, something slams into his left side, knocking both him and Kagome off the horse.

"Sota! Go!" he yells, struggling to get to his feet despite the pain in his back and legs. He-- thankfully--hears the sound of hooves over a pair of voices quietly cursing.

"You two! After him!"

Miroku withdraws his sword and glares at the raiders, instinctively shielding Kagome from the men standing before him. He sees a pair of riders out of the corner of his eye, and prays that Sota doesn't slow down until he reaches the edge of the forest.

The closest marauder grins, then signals to the rest of his troup--five, total--to attack. Miroku manages to hold them off for several minutes before one of them catches his back on a downswing, and the boy goes down with a yell.

"Miroku!"

The girl kneels beside the guard, watching in horror as blood starts to soak his tunic and breeches. The boy tries to tell her something, but before Kagome can decipher it a pair of thickly muscled arms grabs her around the waist and lifts her off her feet. The girl yells, struggling and kicking until a hand encircles her throat.

"Watch closely, deary, and we'll show you how to properly skewer a pig," he drawls, making a shiver of disgust run up the girl's spine. Kagome glances down, her eyes widening in horror as one of the raiders kicks Miroku hard in the stomach.

The boy doubles over, grunting in pain from the blow to his front. He's breathing heavily, and is still trying to get to his feet. Another kick--this time to the slash across his back--makes him scream.

"No! Miroku!" Kagome cries, tears starting to fill her eyes. The marauders all laugh, seemingly amused by the displays of weakness.

"I think getting run through with your own sword will be an acceptable way to die--wouldn't you agree?" the head raider asks, bending down to pick up Miroku's sword and raising it above the boy's head. "And then we'll take our..._spoils_...back with us for a little fun," he says, swinging the weapon down.

"NOOOO...!"

Kagome's yell is cut off by a loud growl, and snarling. The girl stares, her eyes widening as all the fight goes out of her. She hangs limply in her attacker's arms, who also seems shocked at the scene.

Standing above the dark-haired boy on the ground, is a man dressed all in black, with the same color mask tied around his eyes. He has long silver hair hanging down his back, and cute, triangular ears on the top of his head. His clawed hands are holding the edge of the sword between them, and rage is contorting the boy's facial features. In one motion he yanks the weapon away from the raider, flipping it over and thrusting it back through the man's chest.

Kagome gapes, not understanding what's happening. The man holding her mumbles something unintelligible, then drops the girl on her backside, unsheathing his sword as he runs toward the intruder.

The man in black glares and bares his teeth--_he has fangs_, the girl notes--as the other four raiders attack, striking at each with Miroku's sword faster than Kagome can follow. In less than a minute, each one has gone down.

The man glances around quickly to make sure the men aren't getting back up, before he kneels beside Miroku, ripping off the boy's tunic to wrap it around his torso. The guard watches the other boy with narrowed eyes, but doesn't protest to the man's actions.

"You should be alright, but I would get back to the castle as soon as you can," the man in black says gruffly, noticing Miroku's glare.

Kagome simply continues to stare at the strange man, wondering who he was, and why he had helped them, especially since...

"Are you a demon?"

The silver-haired man snaps his eyes to the girl's, preparing to growl and bare his fangs in warning. His hostility quickly fades though, as he sees only curiosity in the girl's chocolate gaze. He debates for a minute about telling her, but decides that Miroku will anyway, if he doesn't.

"Yes," he says simply, standing and walking in the direction Sota had ridden. "Come out."

Kagome and Miroku stifle gasps as the girl's younger brother walks away from the trees. The boy sprints to his sister, hugging her tightly around the neck.

"I was so scared, sis! They almost got me, but he...," the boy says, pointing at the man in black, "...saved me. He landed behind me on the horse, then grabbed me and jumped back into a tree! A tree, Kagome!"

The girl hears an unintelligible sound from Miroku, but she's too busy watching the demon to give it proper attention. The man is trying to keep an indifferent expression on his face, but Kagome can see a slight tinge of pink on the boy's cheeks, underneath his disguise. She raises her eyes higher, and somehow manages to stifle a gasp at the sparkling golden orbs showing through the slits of the mask.

The girl continues to stare in wonder, completely entranced by the man's eyes, before she suddenly realizes that he's watching her. Kagome quickly drops her own gaze, hearing her brother whisper in her ear.

"He's a demon," the boy says, pulling back to reveal obvious delight on his young face. Kagome nods, swallowing and taking a deep breath before standing shakily to her feet.

"You can use the marauders horses. They're staked behind that outcropping," the demon says, pointing to a grouping of boulders a little ways away. The man gives the trio one last glance before turning to leave.

"Wait..."

Kagome quickly drops her hand back to her side, fisting it in her skirt while staring at her feet. The demon still has his back to her, but one pointed ear is aimed in her direction, telling the girl that he's listening.

"Th...thank you. For saving us," Kagome whispers, raising her head back to the man.

The demon stands in place for several seconds before he nods almost imperceptively, then crouches and jumps to the nearest tree, disappearing in moments.

Kagome stares at the spot she had last seen him, wondering why a _demon_ had bothered to save them, and why there was a sudden tightness in her chest. Miroku's voice brings her back to the present.

"Um...a little help here?"

The girl turns, a gasp escaping her throat. "Sota, go get the horses," she says, heading for the guard.

Kagome helps the man to his feet, seeing her brother already returning with the mounts, as the process took several minutes. She whispers to the older boy, noticing that Sota is watching the branches above his head, trying to catch another glimpse of their savior.

"Do you know who he is?"

Miroku nods, reluctantly. "Yes. The people around here only know him by one name." He turns to the girl, a slight frown and worry on his face.

"The Silver Bandit."

* * *

Well? Oh, and I'd like to thank brakken for her semi-beta-ing of this chap, and telling me what would help torture the rest of you guys, plot-wise. Go check out her stuff. It's awesome. :)


	2. Visitors

Here's the second chap guys. It's a little longer than I thought, but that's ok. I explain why at the end. Um...is that all? I know there were some things I was gonna tell you, but I've forgotten now. Maybe I'll remember them by the time I finish editing. :P

* * *

Kagome sighs, rolling her eyes beneath their lids. She taps her fingers against the soft down of her comforter, focusing on her task even through the heated voices floating over her head, her feet swinging back and forth as they hang off the edge of her bed.

_...18...19...20!_

"Ready or not! Here I come!"

The young woman sits up, glancing around her massive room, her dark eyes scanning over the two teens bickering beneath one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. She stands from her bed, using one hand to swing around one of the carved wooden posts that held the canopy above, dropping to her knees to look underneath the large piece of furniture.

_Not here..._

The girl stands again, narrowing her gaze as she walks to the head of the bed, peeking quickly between the headboard and the stone wall before beginning to move along the room's length, checking behind the heavy, dark-green drapes that matched her bed linens, and the multi-colored tapestries that hung on the walls, all having been hand-sewn by Tama Shima's seamstresses over the years.

Returning back to her bed--having found nothing along the walls--the girl first checks the insides of the large, twin oak-and-forged-metal chests sitting at the end, before moving to the vanity sitting in the corner opposite the four-poster. Coming up empty, the young woman strides across the middle of the room, crouching again to look underneath the two couches that framed the pathway between the two sets of double doors, one leading her balcony, the other to the hallway and the rest of the castle.

Still not finding the object of her search, Kagome utters a muffled, frustrated growl, narrowing her eyes on the far end of the room, where a door on each end of the long wall is standing slightly ajar. Deciding that the bath will be easier to search, the girl heads for the one on the left, pushing it open all the way and quickly sweeping her eyes across the bright expanse, risking a quick glance inside the claw-footed wash-basin and the linen cabinet before leaving the bath and moving to other door.

Halfway down the wall the girl catches a quick, so-fast-she-almost-missed-it glimpse of bright yellow disappearing beneath her bed.

_Got you..._

Hiding her triumphant grin, Kagome lifts her midnight-blue skirts and hurries across the room, the soles of her soft, deer-skin slippers making no sound on the pelted and woven rugs, and only a soft _whisper _against the stones beneath her feet.

"Ieme!"

Squealing, the child hiding underneath the bed scrambles to the side opposite that which her seeker had just appeared. The bigger girl giggles as the fair head of the little one appears above the edge of the bed, her blue eyes so bright they almost seem to be glowing.

"You have to catch me, Ka-go-me!" she says, breaking into loud laughter as she takes off across the smoothened stones.

Kagome laughs and lifts her skirts again, preparing to chase after the princess. Before she's taken two steps, however, the doors to her room open and her mother and the Queen stroll inside, a dark-haired handmaiden in a light-green, floor length chemise closing the doors behind them and taking up a position beside a tall mirror in the alcove.

The Queen, a tall woman with hair just a shade darker than Ieme's, almost continually wore a smile, like Kagome's own mother, Paime. Right now they looked so similar--high cheekbones, light complexion, smoky-grey eyes, a carriage that made everyone stop to look, even if one of them hadn't been royalty--that Kagome knew there was no mistaking their relation, however distant, even if the shades of their hair was different.

The young woman immediately comes to a stop, bowing a curtsy to the older woman, hearing her brother noisily get to his feet to do the same. The Queen laughs, waving one hand in their general direction.

"Please, children. You need no more bow to me than you do your own mother," she says, striding forward and taking Kagome in a tight hug.

"So we do need to, then."

Paime gives her youngest a glare as the other two women laugh. The teen flashes his mother a wide, playful smile, and the matron of the family rolls her eyes as she beckons him forward.

"I swear his father taught him that," she says, ruffling her son's hair before passing him on to the other woman. The Queen--Nesuma--laughs again, giving the boy a quick hug before releasing him.

"He's going to look just like Sokka someday," she says, moving past the teens and settling herself onto one of the couches. Sota puffs out his chest a little bit as he follows his mother and sister. The boy obviously took her statement as a compliment.

Ieme--who had stopped running when her mother entered the room, and had been waiting patiently until the introductions had finished--gives Paime a quick hug before she moves to sit in her mother's lap. Her brother--Honon, also hugs Paime before moving to sit beside his mother and sister, but with a slightly offended look on his face.

The prince was two years younger than Sota, and hadn't yet outgrown the age where he thought all girls were disgusting. The boy looks almost identical to his sister, except with more masculine features that were just starting to make themselves known. Honon was on the losing end of the game of Merels he and Sota were playing, which was why the two had been arguing earlier.

"Have they said anything?" Kagome asks as she sits down, preferring to skip the formalities and get straight to the point. The Queen gives her wry glance before shaking her head.

"No, Kagome," she says, straightening her daughter's dress, but not bothering to fix the wrinkles in her own gown--which was made of silk, and colored forest-green with silver accents. Instead, she gestures at her son to sit up straight. "Boei is questioning the wounded, and the King has sent a unit after the runaways, but I doubt they will be found; Shikon Mori is too large a forest. We just have to hope the Head of our Guard can extract something useful from his prisoners."

Kagome nods, and fights back a sigh. She hadn't held any real hope that the rest of the raiders would be captured, and unless the ones that were currently being kept in the dungeons beneath the castle talked, they would never find out who had ordered the attack. It was likely that they simply wanted to use her family for ransom, but the young woman didn't feel that was all there was to it. She's about to ask what the King thought they were really after, but the princess speaks instead, sending her thoughts in a completely different direction.

"What about the Bandit, mommy?"

Ieme gazes up at her mother with large blue eyes, and the Queen smiles down at her youngest, taking a moment to compose her answer. Her children had been briefly informed of the encounter after the delayed party had arrived, in a flurry of shouts and hoofbeats. A quick mention of the Silver Bandit had also been made, but nothing more specific about the raiders that had attacked the caravan.

Nesuma did not want her youngest daughter to be subject to such things at such an age, and vowed to guard her against them until she was older. Honon, on the other hand, had already been on several hunts with his father, and knew that the world was not always a peaceful place. And from the now pinched expression on his face, no doubt Sota had already told the prince what had really happened.

"Your father is more concerned with the men who escaped, dear-heart. The Bandit is a demon, though your father and I do not believe he is an evil one," she says, giving her daughter a quick kiss on her hair. "And besides, you know that no human has the ability to catch him. That is the reason he has evaded us for so long."

"How long?" Sota asks, frowning in an attempt to remember the last time he had visited Tama Shima, and if the bandit was here all those years ago. "I was four, I think, when we were here last. I don't remember anyone mentioning him."

Nesuma and Paime exchange slightly-amused, slightly-strained glances before the Queen responds.

"You were, Sota. It was shortly after you left to return to Beru that the first of the townspeople saw him in the Forest, and pronounced him a ghost. The poor man thought his mind was leaving him, and ate salmon for every meal for almost a month before one of the tavern women saw the Bandit on her way to the harbor. He has only been seen a few dozen times since then. But enough talk of this elusive spirit; let us discuss more significant matters," Nesuma says, smiling as she changes the subject. "Do you wish to know how your Lieutenant is doing? Or should I say, the young Captain?"

"Captain?" Kagome asks, the image of deeply golden eyes vanishing from her mind. "Miroku's being promoted?"

Both the Queen and her mother smile, but this time it's Paime who answers.

"Yes, dear. He...put himself between you and Sota and danger, and very nearly...uh, had it backfire," she says, giving a quick smile to Ieme when her son and daughter give her confused looks. Comprehension crosses their young faces, and Paime continues. "He doesn't yet know, though. Would you like to give Miroku the good news yourself?"

Kagome and Sota exchange an excited glance, until they hear that they have to wait until tomorrow, that is.

**OoooOoooO**

_When is she going to get here?_

Kagome sighs, pacing in front of her balcony doors for the umpteenth time. She and Sota had been waiting on the girl that was to show them around the castle and city, and then take them to visit Miroku in the Guard compound. Her brother had already tired of standing around, and had taken the twins up on their offer to see the city. For once, Kagome didn't blame him.

The twins--Amaya and Usagi--were 16 years old, petite, with strawberry-blonde hair, and curves hidden beneath their beautiful gowns. The princesses would be escorted with guards, of course, and they were distantly related Sota--with their parents being cousins on both sides, after all--but that didn't mean that the teenage boy couldn't spend his time with a couple of pretty girls.

_I need to keep a closer eye on Miroku_... Kagome thinks, shaking her head as a knock finally resounds on the outside door. Straightening her emerald-green skirts, the young woman says, "Enter," in only a slightly annoyed tone.

"Miss Kagome?"

The girl turns, beckoning the visitor farther into the room. She feels her mouth drop open as a young woman a few years older than herself comes into view; one that was obviously not a handmaid, as Kagome had been expecting.

"Uh...yes?" she asks, her brain having gone slightly sluggish.

Kagome was not exactly royalty, but she knew how to give orders, and had been preparing a beratement of sorts for the girl who had kept her waiting. But she hadn't been to the capital city in years, and therefore had little experience with other women near to her own rank, besides her mother, the Queen, and the princesses, who were treated more like family, anyway. Right now, she was at a slight loss for words.

"You might want to close that," the other girl says, smiling widely as Kagome blushes a pretty pink, then quickly closes her mouth.

"Uh...sorry," Kagome responds, taking a few seconds to examine the girl more closely to determine her status.

The woman is slightly taller than herself, with dark eyes and dark hair, half of it pulled back in a high bun, while the rest flows down her back. She's wearing a dark pink dress, cut in the more formal pattern of royalty, but not overly-endowed with sequins and jewels as one of higher rank would wear. She's wearing no jewelry except for a small pair of pearls that dangles from her ears, and only a single, light-pink coral shell clasp holding her bun. A satchel of some sort is draped over one shoulder.

"I am Sango," the girl says, walking farther into the room and pausing beside one of the couches, laying her bag over the arm.

_At least my class..._ Kagome thinks, taking up a position at the other end of the lounge, and laying her hands on the back, one on top of the other. _But that doesn't mean she doesn't owe me an explanation..._

Sango stares at the younger woman for a few seconds before she smiles again, and takes a seat. "You are not correct, in your assuption of my position, my lady. I have no royal blood flowing through my veins, whatsoever."

Kagome blinks, feels her mouth dropping open again, and quickly closes it back. She then frowns at the other girl, before also taking a seat on her end of the sofa.

"How do you come to be dressed as you are, then?" she asks, now noticing that the young woman's dress was made not of silk or lace, but of a soft chiffon. Did any of the lords or ladies of the castle even _wear_ chiffon?

"That is a long story; one that I may tell you someday," Sango says politely, hiding a smile at Kagome's confusion and slight annoyance. "It is only important that you know that I am a ward of the King, though sometimes I think he wishes that I wasn't."

Kagome frowns, wondering what in the world the other girl was talking about. Sango giggles, then beckons the younger woman closer, speaking quietly behind her hand.

"I can be a bit..._trying_ at times," she says, giving Kagome a wink.

"What do you mean?" the other girl asks, wondering why she was whispering, and starting to feel as if she had found the beginnings of a friend and co-conspirator. She also felt intrigued and--strangely--amused, at Sango's tone.

"You agree that I'm a girl, yes?" she asks, leaning back and smiling when Kagome gives her another confused glance, then nods assent. "You might not once you've gotten to know me," Sango responds, giving the younger girl another wink and standing from the couch, taking up her satchel. "But enough of me; we have things to do. The first of which is you accepting my apology for being late."

Kagome raises a brow, slowly rising to her feet. "But you haven't actually apologized," she says, crossing her arms and daring the other girl to contradict her. Sango stares for a moment, then begins laughing, her voice a high, clear alto--not at all unpleasant.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice," she says, giving Kagome another grin. "It wasn't actually my fault, though. One of the maids felt ill, and Kiku was busy with the guards, so she sent me to check on her. It took me most of the morning to convince the poor girl that she's in her second month, because she didn't want to believe me."

"She's pregnant?" Kagome asks, suddenly more interested in hearing the latest gossip than in getting an 'I'm sorry' from the Healer's apprentice. Wait... Kiku? Wasn't that the name of...?

"Yes; but she's scared. She's only 18, and just got married a few months ago," Sango says, interrupting Kagome's train of thought as she turns toward the door and prepares to leave the girl's quarters.

The younger woman follows, only half aware of what's she's doing, her concentration split between Sango's story and the identity of her apparent Master. There couldn't be two women with same name living in the castle, could there? It was too much of a coincidence, but Kiku was...

"I gave her some raspberry tea; sent for a young woman that lives in the city; and told her that Kiku would be by later today," Sango says, again distracting her companion. "The girl finally seemed to calm down some, and I left her with her friend."

"Will she be alright?" the younger girl asks, finally deciding that she must have heard wrong, and shrugging her confusion off as she and Sango walk to the end of the stone hallway and begin to descend a flight of stairs.

"Yes," Sango says, picking up her long skirts so that she she doesn't trip over them. "As long as she remains healthy and doesn't undergo any undue stress, she'll be fine."

Kagome makes a low, non-committal sound, and the two girls continue to descend in silence down the long staircases, back-and-forth, finally coming to the main floor a few minutes later. Sango heads across the wide, stone hall in a diagonal direction, heading for a pair of doors on the far side.

"Aren't you going to show me the castle?" Kagome asks, frowning slightly at the girl in front of her. It takes her a few seconds to realize that Sango still hasn't apologized to her, though she wasn't all that upset about it anymore.

"Yes; but it's such a pretty day outside, that I thought we'd visit your friend, then see the city. The castle can wait until tomorrow. It's supposed to rain."

"Oh."

Kagome frowns again, then decides that Sango's logic makes sense. Besides, she'd rather be visiting Miroku than walking around inside the castle, greeting boring lords and ladies and staring at uninteresting busts of previous Kings. She hadn't liked them as a child, and that hadn't changed much in the time since her previous visit, nine years before.

"Where's Sota?" Sango asks, as the pair enters a long room that contains nothing but suits of armor. Kagome blinks at the light from the large windows reflecting off the polished silver before answering.

"He got tired of waiting when the twins showed up and asked if he'd like to see their favorite merchants in the city. I think sweet rolls were involved."

Sango laughs as she opens the door at the end of the room, and the two girls enter a smaller room, this one with a pair of guards at the far end. There's nothing of interest besides a few paintings and more doors in this room, so the women quickly cross to the other side, smiling at the two men as they leave the castle, and then at the other pair just outside the doors.

"Lots of guards," Kagome says absently, as she and Sango head away from the gravel path that leads to the door they'd just exited. They walk across a wide, grassy lawn that bordered one side of the castle, that was used for outdoor celebrations, mostly. The girl can see a dark shape--probably a door--set into the high wall they were heading for, that runs around the perimeter of the castle.

"You have no idea," Sango mumbles, stopping a moment to pick a daisy growing by a small pond, it's twin located on the opposite side of the main doors that led into the castle proper, a little ways to their right. Kagome waits for the girl to elaborate, but Sango just keeps walking, her dark eyes bright in the morning sunshine.

After several minutes the twosome finally reaches the small, but stout, wooden door, and the older girl produces a key from somewhere, fitting it into the lock and turning it with a loud _click_. The pair passes through, and Sango closes the door behind them, locking it again.

"This is Kiku's; I have to return it to her before we see your friend," Sango explains, heading past Kagome, who was only half listening.

_**This**__ is the Guard Compound?_

The young woman walks in slight astonishment, trying to process what she was seeing.

Several of the Guard's low barracks are laid out before her, end-to-end, interspersed with horses' stables, cleaning facilites, mess quarters, open spaces, and even a few armories. From where she stands, Kagome can only see a few of the men's housings, but assumes that they run the entire circumference of the castle, between the wall she and Sango had just come through, and an identical one on the far side of the compound. Also, small, strange, hut-like buildings seem to be placed along the inside wall every 100 feet or so.

"How are we going to find Miroku?" Kagome asks, doing a double-take as she sees a woman practicing with a long-sword, right alongside the men. She's momentarily forgotten that the other girl knew where she was going.

"He's in Eagle," Sango says, suddenly moving away from the wall they had been staying close to, and heading for one of the barracks.

Kagome stares in wonder at all the fighters around her: practicing, laughing, on duty--though some she's not quite sure of exactly what they were doing--lounging around, training, heading for destinations unknown...

The girl is busy watching a young man trying to saddle an unruly white stallion, and doesn't realize that Sango had stopped, almost walking right into the woman. The other girl gives her a soft smile before she enters one of the low dwellings, Kagome following after her, the image of a boar over the doorway.

"Kiku? Here's your key. And you remember Kagome, daughter of Paime and Sokka, don't you?"

The mentioned girl feels her eyes widening as the King's older sister smiles at her, wiping bloody hands on a rag before giving Kagome a curtsy. The girl just stares for several seconds until a soft jab in the ribs from Sango reminds her that Kiku was still royalty, and that she had better give the woman the proper respect.

"Oh...uh, your...uh...?"

"Kiku is fine, lady. I expected Sango to warn you, but apparently she didn't listen," Kiku says, sending a soft glare to the giggling woman.

"I told Kagome that you sent me, and that we had to return the key to you, but she didn't seem to recognize your name," Sango says, turning to give the other girl a smile. Kagome narrows her eyes.

"I've been...distracted...," she responds, glancing around the room that they had entered.

The man Kiku had been attending is lying on a wooden-framed cot, which had been supplemented with what looked like a huge, down-filled pillow and a large, thin quilt, it being summer and all. Three other cots take up the other corners, but none of their occupants were inside on such a beautiful day. A tapestry of the castle, two windows, two medium-sized cabinets for the men's clothing, one desk and stool, one fireplace opposite the door, and four trunks at the ends of the beds complete the room. The man gives her a smile before reaching for Kiku's sleeve, which is just out of his reach.

"...and it _has_ been almost a decade since I saw you last," Kagome says, gesturing toward the soldier.

Kiku turns, frowning at the man for a moment until he points to his ankle, which was not as small as it should have been.

"That is true, dear," the woman says, kneeling beside his leg and gently prodding the man's joint, frowning again when he winces. "You've sprained it, Roji. It wasn't enough that you got an arrow in your arm, but you had to sprain your ankle, too? What _am_ I going to do with you?"

The man gives the older woman a glare, but she just laughs and searches a bag that was lying on a chair for some clean cloths to wrap around his ankle. Kagome notes that it looks very similar to Sango's.

"What are you doing in the soldier's barracks, Kiku?" Kagome asks, sending Sango a scowl as the girl beckons her to the door. She didn't want to leave with the question of why nobility was attending to injured warriors still hanging in the air.

"Niwabu--our Healer--couldn't attend to all the men who were injured from the attack yesterday, so some of the city's healer's and myself are helping her, while her apprentices, Kaede, Kikyo, and Sango attend to the less seriously injured men, and other subjects in the castle and outside in the city. We aren't really necessary, but it's good to keep up the practice, once learned. And I enjoy it," Kiku says, giving Kagome a smile as she wraps the man's ankle, ignoring his grunts of pain.

The girl seems to give this some thought, then shrugs and smiles back at the royal woman. "It's good to see you again, Kiku," Kagome says, leaning down to give the woman a kiss on the cheek before following Sango out of the hut.

"She's an honorable lady," Sango says, seemingly smiling to herself as the two walk past several buildings, aiming for one on the backside of the castle. A small scowl crosses the girl's face as they pass a barracks where two women, each with long, dark hair and dark eyes, but one slightly shorter than the other, are arguing, much to the embarrassment of the men hovering around them. "Most nobility wouldn't humble themselves to attend to a soldier, even if they knew how."

"What does that mean?" Kagome asks, staring at the two women for a moment, before one of them storms off in a huff, and the other returns to the room she's apparently just left. She thinks they look vaguely familiar, but can't seem to place their faces. The older girl turns to Kagome, staring at her for a long moment before shrugging.

"Nothing, really. I'll tell you later. It's not really wise--or appropriate--to talk about such things in the open."

Kagome looks around, taking note of the fact that they seemed to pass by a guard at least every thirty seconds or so.

_No. Definitely don't want to talk about anything here. There are ears everywhere..._

Kagome's thoughts are again interrupted as the pair rounds the end of a stable, and Sango points to the next barracks, about fifty feet or so away.

"That's the one your friend is in. He'll be in an officer's room by the end of the week, though. So I heard," she says, giving Kagome a wink. "Kiku told me this morning, just before I came to get you," Sango adds, at the surprised look on the other girl's face. "I haven't told anyone, though. She said to let you..."

Sango's words are cut off as they get closer to Miroku's room, and the loud sounds of arguing carry over the open space, already attracting an audience.

"What the hell did you do to yourself this time?! Don't tell me the woman did that!"

"Of course not! She couldn't do this to me!"

"Yeah, right! Who was it then?! Her little brother?"

Kagome and Sango exchange a glance that says they probably should wait until Miroku's visitor leaves, but they decide to forge ahead and knock loudly on the boy's door, trying to override the shouts that were barely being muffled by the thick wood.

"Damn it! What the hell do you want?!" a man yells, before yanking open the door and glaring at whoever had dared to interrupt his tirade.

Kagome feels her heart jump into her throat.

* * *

Should I have ended it there? Hrmm... Probably not, but I'm mean like that, and this chap's already pretty long. They won't all be this length, but the chaps where I have to give what settings look like, people look like, etc, will be longer. Oh, I remember what I was going to say! I'm kind of making up (well...duh) clothing and room decorations, the Guard area, etc, as I go, and most of it probably won't be a direct match to anything historical. I'll have references (everyone knows what breeches are, yes?) to the pre-modern era's, and might even cross some times periods with others, but that's ok, b/c this is my world. Just go with the flow, people... And if you have questions, just ask. Oh, that was the other thing. _Mon cherie_ means 'my dear/darling,' and _oui_ means 'yes' in French; and _kyasha_ means 'petite' in Japanese. I shouldn't have any more foreign words, except maybe some things from Inuyasha that you guys should know, and if Miroku says anything else, I'll try to remember to tell you what the words mean. He's going to be a romantic in this fic, so some things might slip out. Oh, and Merels is a game like checkers (sort-of), and here's link if you want to know about it. Ok. Is that all now? I hope so... Bye!

www. modar university. org /Game4. htm


	3. Not In Beru Anymore

Yes, I know. But blocks suck and so do vacuums. Just enjoy the chap people.

* * *

He was having a great day.

First, he currently held in his hands a deliciously-decadent sweet roll, drenched in thick, gooey icing. He hadn't had one of those in some years, as they were uncommon in Beru, his home village. Only when a caravan happened through did the chance even exist to obtain one of the rare treats, and he'd had a weakness for them since he was old enough to eat solid food. Thus the diversion.

Secondly, he'd gotten out of seeing the castle with Kagome, and some girl named Sango, whom Queen Nesuma had recommended. Which meant only one thing in his mind: _Boring_. He was at that age where there was nothing worse than spending time with your s_ister_, and a woman of whom your mother--going on only a recomendation--approved. Fortunately, he'd lucked out and the girl had been late, and he'd been able to escort the teenage princesses into the city.

Which was his third reason. Granted, he and the pretty twins were distant cousins, but he wasn't too upset by that fact. He knew of married couples that were more closely related than he and Amaya and Usagi were, and though _technically_ he would never be with one of them because they were royalty and he wasn't, it was _actually_ the fact that he was younger than the girls that meant he would never marry one of them. But he didn't care much about that, or even gave the idea that much idle thought. As long as he could still look. Miroku had taught him that.

_...I wonder how he's doing?_

The idea that he wouldn't be able to see his surrogate brother and long-time friend until later in the day was the only trouble Sota had with spending his time with the princesses. He'd already asked after the injured guardsman, and had been told by one of his escorts that Miroku would be bedridden for a fortnight, at the least, and visitors were to be kept to a minimum.

This wouldn't have been a problem, since Miroku would surely want to see him, except that the twins were forbidden to enter the Gauntlet. Sota couldn't remember how the Guard Compound came to be nicknamed, and would have to ask the lieutenant later, but that wasn't the important part of the girls' statement. The area was currently off-limits to the twins unless one of their older brothers, their father, or Boei, the Head, was with them. It was only a temporary restriction, but one that the sixteen-year-olds didn't wish to converse about, if their identical sour expressions were any indication.

Sota had bitten his tongue then, and opted to talk of more pleasant things; things that didn't get him looks like he had hidden a toad in his sister's corset. He would just have to wait until he returned from the city before he saw the lieutenant. Correction: _Captain_. Maybe he could bring him a sweet roll as a congratulations. Miroku would like that.

"So, Sota, has the City changed much since you were last here?" one asks, stifling a giggle as the young man hurries to finish the last of his bun so that he can answer, licking the excess icing off his fingers. He can feel his cheeks warming.

"It's...not as big," he says, giving the thatched roofed buildings around them a frown, before turning back to the girl. "I mean that everything looks normal-sized now that I'm older, and taller. All the buildings were huge when I was four; as was everything else. But it has grown, hasn't it? I could tell coming in that the fields are larger. And have some of the houses and shops added another level?"

Each of the girls offers him a smile, pointing out several merchant's dwellings. "Yes."

"Several families, and many seamstresses..."

"...and at least three of the bakers..."

"...have added to their shops..."

"...as well as one of the butchers, who has also had to expand his cellar..."

"...and Hada, who used to be on the edge of Tama Shima..."

"...but the city's grown so much that the tanner had to relocate..."

"...to the Eastern Wall, because everyone was complaining..."

"...about the smell."

Sota blinks when the girls finish, glancing back and forth between the two of them one more time, before shaking his head. Amaya and Usagi simply grin again before walking on, whispering to each other and pointing to a young man loaded with a basket of corn husks. He catches sight of them watching and stumbles, losing half of his load in his attempt to _not_ do exactly what he just did. The twins giggle.

"Princesses."

The two strawberry-haired girls turn, giving their leading escort identical scowls. The man doesn't seem to be affected by their pouts, and actually seems to ignore them as they speak, as his keen eyes constantly scan the surrounding market.

"We did not..."

"...mean any offense. He..."

"...is Jushi's son, yes? His..."

"...name is Daizu? He helps..."

"...his father with their crops. He..."

"Can you pleez stop? Mommy says she gettin' a headache."

Surprise crosses the twin's faces as a small girl--probably no more than 3 or 4 years old--stares unabashedly at the two princesses from right behind their flowing, light blue skirts. The child points back to her mother, who was standing a few dozen feet away, beside a merchant selling eggs, shock and something like horror on each of the women's faces.

"An' mommy thinks yur daddy shou'd never have let you..."

"Tori!"

The girl stops speaking, turning with a frown to her mother, a perplexed look crossing her small features as the woman hurries over and grabs her hand. The elder female gives the princesses, Sota, and their escorts a nervous, apologetic smile.

"Excuse me, ladies," she mumbles, curtsying. "But...uh...my daughter and I still have many errands to attend."

The pair hurries off, the mother feverishly whispering something to her child as they cross the lane, before any one of the group can utter a protest. Amaya and Usagi exchange a look that speaks of calm--if begrudging--acceptance.

"How far has it spread, Okuzai?" one asks. Sota hazards a guess that it's Usagi, but only their mother and his, Kagome, and Iemi could tell them apart with absolute certainty. Even the twins' father had trouble with that feat, and he should have been the one person who didn't.

The lead guardsman's lips twitch as he watches the woman and child disappear down a side lane, obviously in a rush to be away from potential punishment, though they had no way of knowing that none would be forthcoming. It was to be expected that the royal family would be the topic of many conversations, and King Aladair would not order a retaliation against a woman simply because she spoke her mind.

"To even the youngest child, it seems," the guard replies, giving the twins a small shrug. He would not be ordered to avenge the insulted princesses in any way, and had already put the incident out of his mind. Okuzai ignores the girl's undignified snorts, again keeping his shrewd, blue gaze peeled for potential danger. Though one would have to be mad to even think about attacking the group to begin with.

"I thought father was going to keep the rumors from the City," Amaya whispers, grabbing her sister's elbow as they move on, eyeing each man, woman, and child they pass as if they might suddenly start pointing, accusing them of some other scandal.

"I guess it's true, what they say." Sota gives the girls a cheeky grin when they turn to him, confused. "The servants hear everything."

Amaya and Usagi sneer a tiny bit at their distant cousin, before frowning at his words. They really shouldn't have been surprised, however. The guards involved were forbidden to talk of the event; Boei was embarrassed beyond words; Niwabu--having lived in the castle long before King Aladair's time--knew better than to speak of such nonsense; and the twins, their mother, and their older brothers, were under strict orders from their father (well, it was a suggestion, really, in their mother's case) not to utter another word about it. That only left the servants that were in attendance that day.

The girls finally sigh at the expectant half-smile on the younger boy's face, before giving him identical dismissing waves of their hands.

"I suppose..."

"...we have no choice. You'll hear about..."

"...it anyway. But can we..."

"...tell you another time, Sota? We'd..."

"...prefer to enjoy ourselves..."

"...on such a lovely day."

The young brunette shakes the disorientation from his brain, then nods at the pair. He didn't know if he could stand a long explanation without the benefit of sitting down.

"Sure," he says, not able to utter anything more because of the dizziness. He notices that the half-dozen guards around them seem to barely even notice the princesses' odd way of communicating, and wonders when he'll develop the double-concentration necessary to keep up without feeling somewhat lost. And nauseous.

Usagi and Amaya grin at him in appreciation, and the group continues farther into the city, commenting on Tama Shima's continued expansion and growth, and speaking to a few of it's residents about the daily goings-on, and how their personal lives were proceeding.

Nearly every person they pass gives the girl's a small bow, or, at the least, a smile and a nod, if they were otherwise indisposed, with an armful of freshly-made rounds of brie, or two dozen floppy-earred goats that were being moved to another part of the city, for example. It was a respectful gesture, but not required. No need to disrupt someone's life just because the royal family wanted a little fresh air.

Around mid-day they stop at a baker's corner shop, assuring him that the small rise in taxes is definitely going to be used to cobblestone and/or repair the city's streets, and that work was set to begin the next week. The man sends them off with something new that he had been working on--a cheese _danish_--telling them to please tell their friends if they liked the small pastries. One of the guardsmen only makes it to the next cross-street before stopping another on his rounds, telling the man that he must try one of the sweet treats, and buy him another while he was at it.

Sota--for the most part--listens quietly to the conversations and bustle of the capital that was going on around him, only occassionally offering his opinion on one of the persons they pass, or asking questions about a renovating building. It had been so long since he'd seen a large city, and he was still trying to sort out the differences between it and his smaller, much more country hometown. One building, however, catches his eye.

"Who lives there?" the teen asks, stopping in the middle of the street, and having to step out of the way a minute later, when a man and his horse, pulling a cart loaded with hay, walks through the spot in which he had just been standing. He ignores the scowl the peddler sends him.

"There?" the girls ask, each pointing to the tall building, which seemed to almost take up an entire corner of the intersection the group was standing before. Amaya and Usagi respond in an echo. "It's the blacksmith's shop."

"Which one?" Sota presses, his next question half-forming at the back of his mind as he picks his way between citizens, making his way toward the structure. He can see a small tendril of smoke coming from what he thinks is the back of the building, though it was nowhere near the amount that would normally be seen if the resident was inside, working. The half-closed doors at the front are dark, with no sign of activity.

"Not _which_ one. _The_ one."

"The only one who's worth requesting."

"Though his attitude leaves most..."

"...wanting to run him through with his own weapons."

Sota feels an almost spiteful grin working it's way onto his lips as he reaches the shop, glancing inside a moment, though it was fairly obvious that no one was home.

"Where is he?" he asks, turning back to the girls. Sota was almost willing to give his left pinkie to meet this man, if he was who he suspected. He loved his sister, but he _was_ the younger of the two. And Miroku had promised him in exchange for a tip while he was in Beru. The guard had better be able to deliver now that they were in the capital. Sota had gotten into deep trouble over that little tip.

The twins glance at each other before shrugging, turning back to their guards, who seemed to be relieved that the shop owner was nowhere to be found. Okuzai answers the question with a gruff nod toward the castle in the distance, it's granite turrets sparkling in the sunshine.

"I would guess that he's seeing your lieutenant," he says, a hint of a scowl on his stubbled cheeks. "I just hope the smith remembers that he was recently injured. It'll be weeks before he's back on his feet as it is. We don't need that hothead to extend it."

The teen holds back a grim smile, though it was anything but unhappy. On the contrary, Sota was thinking that he just might get Miroku _two_ sweet rolls.

**OoooOoooO**

Kagome wasn't particularly shallow about personal hygiene. She knew that most of the kingdoms' citizens had jobs that left them pining for a hot bath at the end of the day; she'd felt the same way a dozen times, even given her relatively higher status. But the man standing in front of her, he almost seemed to have gone out of his way to make sure that others believed he was a lowly beggar, and not a respected swordsmith, as Miroku had told her.

And she knew it was him. There was no way her intuition was that off. Though she desperately wished that it was.

The man was wearing worn, faded, and stained brown trousers, which perfectly matched his worn, faded, and stained sleeveless tunic, and dusty shoes. His approximately shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a messy knot at the nape of his neck, half of his shorter bangs stuck to his sweat-slicked forehead. Kagome couldn't tell if it was naturally dark, or if the color was due to all the soot. Almost every inch of his skin that was visible was covered in the ash as well, and many of the ones that weren't were colored an angry red, most likely from the heat of the shop.

But this man didn't seem to care in the slightest about his appearance, if his now disdainful expression was anything to go by. However, it wasn't his dress that bothered Kagome the most.

The man blocking the doorway had worn an expression just shy of hatred when he had first seen her. His heated, cerulean gaze had roamed over Kagome quickly before switching to Sango, frowning at the other woman a moment before floating back to the shorter girl. He had then sneered at her for a few seconds before realizing that she was wearing the same expression, which seemed to break his silence.

"Well? What do you want?" he snaps, closing the door a tiny fraction, as if they'll leave if they can't actually see the guard lying on the bed.

"We're here because Kagome wants to see her friend, and pass on something important to him," Sango responds, apparently unfazed by the boy's attitude. She rolls her eyes when he glares at her, but he allows the woman to push her way past him into the building, each of them foregoing any attempt at pleasantries. Kagome hesitates a moment before following, snapping her eyes to the male's face when he grabs her arm, stopping her.

"You're Kagome?" he asks, frowning. He was obviously unimpressed.

"Yes," the girl answers, shortly. She waits a few seconds for him to release her, then pulls her arm out of his grip rather forcefully when he doesn't. "And you?" she asks, though it's clear from her tone that she already knows, and doesn't particularly care to hear it confirmed.

"That's Inuyasha, Kagome," Miroku volunteers, when the boy in question doesn't respond. The guard releases a low laugh when the pair looks at him, unaware that they're both wearing the same aggravated expression. He turns back to the other woman, who is glancing back and forth between the three of them, looking slightly lost. The boy could tell from her confusion that she knew something was going on, though she had no idea what.

_Intuitive..._ he thinks, offering her a wide--though somewhat painful--grin, while he inspects the girl as discreetly as possible.

Miroku had seen this lovely young woman before, but only occasionally. Mostly on foot patrol in the city, and once or twice inside the castle grounds, usually with Niwabu. He could even recall her presence during one of the Guard's yearly Exhibitions. He had never had an occasion to speak to her before now, though it was common knowledge thoughout his Company that he could always think up a reason--even a farfetched one--in order to speak to a pretty maiden. However, this one never seemed to stay within his sight for more than a few minutes, though they had both lived in Tama Shima for some years. Much to the guard's displeasure.

"And to finish the introductions... I'm Miroku, Miss....?"

The boy leaves his question open-ended, an obvious invitation for the girl to give him her name. He raises one arm and places it across his chest, slowly, a somewhat sad attempt at proper decorum, but an attempt nonetheless.

"Here we go _again_..."

The two women turn to the angry male, who is making no effort whatsoever to hide his disdain for the guard's actions. He closes the door and moves over to the stool in front of the small desk, dropping onto it unceremoniously, leaning his forearms on his knees and rolling his eyes. He scoffs when the women each give him a frown.

"Do you seriously think he's just being polite?" Inuyasha asks, aiming his question at Kagome, but without actually looking at her, as he was now failing in a half-hearted effort to push his bangs off his face. He disregards the other girl completely, to her irritation. Sango was not someone who was _ignored._

"Excuse me? To whom were you speaking? Because I can't tell who you were looking at through all that dirt," Sango says, glaring at the swordmaker and crossing her arms. Inuyasha scowls.

Kagome interrupts before he can respond, cutting off the verbal sparring that was about to take place. Miroku may have been a perpetual flirt, but he was still seriously injured, and didn't needed the added stress from witnessing a confrontation. She glances over at her friend, wondering why he didn't look remotely distressed, and actual seemed to be completely pleased with himself...

"Of course he is; Miroku is always courteous. Even to those who aren't deserving," she says, moving to sit beside the guard, leaving her insult unacknowledged, but hovering, just the same. "But he's injured, and really shouldn't entertain those ideas at the moment; right Miroku?"

Despite his amusement at Inuyasha's deepening scowl, the guard has enough chagrin at the girl's knowing look and humoring smile, that he actually decides to dismiss the ideas running through his head. Or maybe not.

"Ah... But when one sees a _bouton de rose_, one cannot help but imagine it in full bloom, no?" he asks, smirking at Kagome's exasperated sigh, before turning his gaze back to the woman who was silently simmering at the foot of his bed. His grin falls into a pout when he sees that she isn't even paying attention to him.

"Huh? What?" Sango asks, completely missing the guard's illustration, as she had been imagining ways of removing the dirt from the smith's face, each method more drastic and inhumane than the last. She frowns slightly at the guard's disappointed expression. "Uh..sorry... What did you say?"

"Better for him if he doesn't repeat it," Inuyasha mumbles, now leaning back on his stool, his elbows resting on the desk behind him. He offers a mischievous grin to the women when they look over, but he doesn't offer anything more.

"Why do you say that?" Kagome finally asks, her deep, mocha colored eyes narrowing on first, the dark-haired man, then the older girl. Miroku may be a perpetual flirt, but his statement wasn't that indecent. She'd heard worse things from him before, sometimes even in front of Sota. So why shouldn't he repeat the slightly suggestive compliment?

Inuyasha remains silent for a tense minute, deciding that the nails on his soot-covered left hand needed his utmost attention. He finally glances back to Sango, sending her a sly glance. "I heard about Suru."

"Suru? Lord Basu's son?" Miroku asks, a very slight nervous edge creeping into his tone. "That was you?"

The surrogate healer is quiet for a few seconds, then lays her bag on the end of the guard's bed, now quite visibly irritated. Kagome is sure that she can see Sango's right eye ticking. The girl takes a step toward Inuyasha before stopping herself.

"His father asked that I didn't speak of it, me being a woman and all," she says, rolling her eyes. The tall young woman breathes in slowly, then crosses her arms, looking out the only window in the small building. "But he had it coming. I told him I wasn't interested--warned him, even--and he still wouldn't give up. It's not my fault that his nose was broken. He should have been paying more attention to my fist instead of my...assets."

Kagome blinks at the realization, then suddenly finds that she can't help herself, and begins giggling before she can move her hand to cover the lower part of her face. The snickering is only slightly muffled, however. Sango turns to her with a half-smile and a wink.

"I'll show you sometime, if you like, Kagome. I think you might benefit from a lesson or two," she says, turning back to her bag without elaborating on her offer.

"Um....thanks?" the younger girl replies, bewildered. She frowns at Miroku's suddenly bright gaze, wondering if he's in pain, then looks over to respond to the arrogant snort that had come from the other male.

"Something wrong?" she asks, making an attempt to be polite. Just because the smith was more-or-less ignoring her didn't mean that she should do the same. She'd been raised better than that.

"No. Just estimating," Inuyasha replies, shrugging. Kagome looks to Sango, wondering if she had any idea what the smith was referring to, but the other girl was digging her satchel, pulling out bandaging materials, and didn't seem to have heard them if the muttering she was doing under her breath was anything to go by.

Miroku however, seems to think he knows exactly what the other male was thinking, and has the audacity to look affronted.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" he says, trying to sit up and instantly regretting it. Inuyasha just snorts again.

"Miroku, concentrate on healing from that wound this one got you stuck with," he says, ignoring said girl when a glare promising death is aimed toward him. "You'd have an easier time getting Boei to let you be a judge for the seamsters, and we all know he's never going to let you do that. His daughter turns 17 next month."

Kagome glances back and forth between the two boys--one pouting and angry, the other smirking and overly self-satisfied. She then looks to Sango, who was holding a thin strip of cloth between her hands in a way that was somehow menacing to watch, and suddenly thinks that maybe she should have stayed in Beru. It seemed to her that her time in Tama Shima was going to be a trying one.

If she only knew.

* * *

There you go. Working on the next chap now. Maybe I'll get it up this year..... *sighs*


	4. Relations

Nothing to say, really.... :)

* * *

"No."

Kagome feels her smile begin to fade. "What?"

"I said, 'No.'"

Now it was morphing into a frown. "But..."

It takes her a moment to find something to say. He was wearing a determined look under his slightly-pained one, and she knew that there would be no changing his mind, no matter what she offered. Still, she wasn't one to give up so easily.

"But...you were injured defending me, and..."

"And I would have been killed if it weren't for _him_. If anyone deserves a promotion it's him, not me."

The young guardsman turns away with an irritated--and borderline angry--snort, glancing briefly at the woman by his side before staring out the window. Sango stays quiet as she changes Miroku's bandages, even though she can feel two holes being burned into her head by the other girl, as Kagome wills her into meeting her eyes.

Sango barely knew the guard, wasn't there during the attack (though Kagome and Miroku had explained it in detail, prior to her mentioning the guard's pending advancement), and had no stake in his acceptance or refusal. The situation had nothing to do with her, so she didn't think it pertinent to offer her opinion on the matter, and firmly keeps her own eyes on her task.

Kagome finally--reluctantly--turns her gaze to the only other person in the room, as it was obvious that neither Miroku nor Sango were going to help her make her point. Neither she nor Inuyasha had spoken to the other directly since he'd insinuated that she was to blame for the guard's injury, and the tension inside the building had not yet had a chance to dissipate.

Despite her annoyance with him, however, Kagome chooses to ask the smith's opinion. She didn't necessarily disagree with Miroku's assertion that the Bandit deserved compensation more than he did; the demon did save their lives, not that anything would ever come of the suggestion. But the guard should be rewarded for what he _did_ do to protect her and Sota. There was no guarantee that they would have been even half so lucky if they had stayed with the rest of the caravan, and she wanted someone besides herself to support Miroku's appointance to Captain. As his friend, Inuyasha should have been on the guard's side.

Kagome feels a strange trepedation, however, as she looks at the blacksmith, into his azure eyes. As if what she's about to ask is somehow taboo, though she hasn't the faintest idea why she should think that.

"What do you think...Inuyasha?" she asks, her voice almost a whisper. His gaze was so intensely focused on her, it was almost intimidating. "Would you take the promotion, if it was you?"

The young woman feels a thickening of the atmosphere inside the barracks as the man stares at her, his face carefully blank. It seemed to Kagome that he was searching her expression for something, though she hadn't a clue what. She fights the urge to break his gaze, feeling her cheeks warming as the seconds pass, but she doesn't drop his stare. After several oppressive moments, during which Kagome can feel the force of two more gazes upon her, the smith finally answers, his voice low, soft, and strangely decisive.

"Yes."

Apparently, Kagome isn't the only one shocked by this answer, if the sputtering gasps from the bed are any sort of a give-away. She closes her mouth as Miroku finds his voice.

"Before the girls came in you were saying that I should be _de-_moted for--and I quote--my 'serious lack of defensive training by those pompous morons,' and the disastrous tragedy that my naivety so narrowly avoided..."

"She's right, though, idiot," Inuyasha snaps, his cheeks darkening as his impassivity from a moment before changes suddenly to annoyance. "Just because you were taken by surprise a second time...," the smith ignores the scoffs coming from the guard, "...doesn't mean that you screwed up the first time. They were obviously after the girl and her brother; there was not..."

"What?"

Inuyasha stops as Sango interrupts, turning to face him, her carefully neutral expression being replaced by disbelief.

"Why would they have been after Kagome and Sota? They're not royalty; a ransom wouldn't have gotten them much to speak of," she says, her brows furrowing as she thinks. "It would've made more sense to take Paime or Rokku...."

"I agree, but none of the carriages were marked. The marauders would have had to have been following us since Kirin, at the least, to even know who was traveling," Miroku says, wincing as Sango ties off the ends of his bandages--rather tightly, in his opinion, though he doesn't say anything about it.

"So they had some of their people attack the caravan, and others waiting for Kagome and Sota? What sense does it make for them to split their forces? There was no guarantee that you would have taken them away from the others..."

"That may have been why they were lighting the carriages; to force us into the forest, and away from reinforcements. I've asked Boei; he says it's plausible. He also thinks it might be because of Kagome's..."

"You two don't mind telling us when you've decided what they were after? I've got orders that need to be filled, and little Miss here looks like she might need something from the castle's wine cellar."

Miroku and Sango glance up, only now noticing that Kagome is sitting on the windowsill, her brown eyes wide and her face pale. Inuyasha is standing beside her, looking irritated and somewhat uncomfortable, his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh, Kagome, I'm sorry! I didn't think...."

"Why don't you try?" Inuyasha mutters, without looking away from the younger female. He conveniently forgets to mention that he was the one who originially brought up the topic of discussion.

"Kagome, you know that we did not mean any offense," Miroku says, as a look of fury crosses Sango's face, and words seem to become stuck in her throat. "We were only speculating..."

"I...I know," the girl answers, forcing a smile onto her face, though it's obviously strained. "It's not....not that I haven't thought of the reasons, it's just that..."

Kagome stops and glances around the room, though she doesn't actually seem to be looking for anything. She finally looks back to Inuyasha, blinking at his closeness. She hadn't noticed that he had moved from his stool.

"...it seems so much more likely, to hear you speak of it," she says, softly. "I could convince myself that it was simply coincidence, before, but now..."

The girl stops, stares blankly at nothing for another moment, then shakes her head and stands.

"It doesn't matter. They didn't get anything of value, and they certainly didn't kidnap Sota or myself," she says, firmly. "Boei will find out what they were after, and hypothesizing their intentions in the meantime will just cause unnecessary worry. And we're in the city now; the raiders aren't going to get a second chance to carry them out, anyway."

"We don't know that," Inuyasha says, his words sounding somewhat like a growl. He rolls his eyes at the others when they frown and continues in the same low tone. "We assume that the city is more secure, but villagers from all over the country come here every day."

"He's right," Sango says, reluctantly, when Kagome gives her an pleading glance from across the room. "We can't be sure that everyone who comes through the gates has honest intentions."

"The Guard is good, but we can't be everywhere," Miroku adds, frowning again at his long-time friend when her face pales once more. He offers her a grim smile. "But the castle is obviously better protected than the city. And knowing those men's goal could tell us if they're willing to try something again. Boei will find out what they were after; if it was truly you or Sota, or something else. That way we can be prepared...for anything."

Though her resolve is now slightly shaken because of the looming unknown, Kagome draws some measure of strength from Miroku's determined expression. She glances at Sango and receives an encouraging smile, which she partially returns before Sango turns to help Miroku into lying back down.

Kagome switches her gaze to the man beside her, with some trepidation. She want to know his thoughts on her safety, and though he hadn't exactly been approving of her thus far (and the feeling was mutual), his opinion on this subject would--obviously--be a deal-breaker. To her great surprise and displeasure, however, Inuyasha is looking at her as if he was about to be ill.

"Something the matter?" she asks, as a coldness settles in her stomach. She tries to keep her voice even and her expression relaxed, though she was suddenly craving that wine he had mentioned earlier. A lot of it.

The smith is quiet for a moment, then turns his head and takes a step away from Kagome, running his fingers through his mess of hair in the process. "No... I was just thinking..."

Kagome watches in confusion as he frowns to himself, then utters what she's sure is a muted expletive under his breath. She doesn't have time to ask what's wrong with him, as Inuyasha abruptly turns on his heel and walks out of the room. He stops outside the door as an unexpected yelp catches both of their attentions. They each turn to the bed and see a suddenly murderous-looking Sango.

"Do you want _your_ nose to be broken?! Keep your hands to yourself!"

The young woman stands abruptly, slings her bag over her shoulder, and stomps from the barracks, yanking the door handle away from Inuyasha and slamming it shut. Kagome turns to the guard in exasperation.

"What did you do?" she asks, raising a brow when Miroku shakes his head.

"Nothing."

But the young man was rubbing a very red spot on his hand with the other, and seemed to be having trouble keeping a grin off his face. He looks inordinately pleased with himself. For about 3 seconds.

"Curses! I didn't get her name!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

"You could have warned me."

"You seemed to handle him fine by yourself."

Sango sends a glare to the man walking beside her, before grabbing his arm and pulling the pair of them behind a stack of barrels, releasing a sharp _Hey!_ from the male.

"You said he was a suggestive philanderer; you didn't say anything about touching!" the girl says, gripping the boy's arm harder and shaking her free fist. Inuyasha eyes each of her hands for a moment, then pulls his arm away and shrugs.

"You didn't ask."

If Sango was expecting more of an explanation, she wasn't going to get it. Inuyasha simply crosses his arms and stares at her, then lets his gaze wander back in the direction they had come. He doesn't look back at the young woman until she huffs at him.

"That may be true," she says, adjusting the strap on her shoulder in an attempt to keep from pinching him as well, "but it was something you should have mentioned. There are protocols, you know!"

Inuyasha doesn't respond for a moment, then finally rolls his eyes at her. "I didn't expect him to do anything the first time. Usually he waits until you actually agree to an outing before scaring you off."

"Scared, ha! He'll be lucky if I don't break his fingers the next time I see him," Sango seethes, clenching her fists against her sides. "The only reason I didn't just now is because I don't want Kagome to see that."

The smith is silent for a second, then quickly turns on the girl. "Why? You think she'd report you?" he asks, his expression something between loathing and desperation. Sango stares at him in exasperation before responding.

"No... I think she'd agree with me. I just...want to get to know her better before I....get violent," the girl says, her cheeks coloring a little. "She's not like the other _girls_ around here," she adds, somewhat petulantly.

"What makes you think that?" Inuyasha asks, his frown disbelieving.

"Woman's intuiton, I suppose," Sango replies, shrugging. "She seemed keen to get out of the castle, and when she saw Buna practicing she only looked surprised. Her skin isn't pale, either, like...."

"Don't start," Inuyasha says, virtually growling. Sango glances sideways at the smith then shrugs again, hiding a smirk.

"I'm just saying. Kagome probably spends a lot of time outdoors in Beru."

"And? What does that have to do with anything?"

"What do you think, you fool? You won't have to spend a fortune courting her with useless trinkets and baubles."

This time, Sango can't help but let her smirk show on her face, as Inuyasha's frown morphs into a scowl, and his cheeks darken to a deep crimson.

"I'll pay Miroku back; I should never have agreed..."

"You'll go ahead with it, because you gave them your word," Sango says, her glaring attitude challenging him to be anything but agreeable.

"But it'll never work. We can hardly stand to be in the same room together!" Inuyasha responds hotly, his cheeks still radiating.

"You don't know that. Though your first meeting was hardly the best of circumstances," the young woman responds, distractedly. She glances at the barracks they had left, some distance away, her countenance turning thoughtful as she watches the dark-haired girl leave Eagle, look around her for several moments, then head away in the opposite direction. Sango looks back to Inuyasha to find him frowning, something like nervousness showing on face, which he quickly covers on seeing Sango watching him.

"You don't know that it will," he says, quietly, rubbing one hand over his face and spreading the soot in a wide arc across his forehead. "She looks so much like..."

"That doesn't mean she is," Sango interrupts, but Inuyasha acts as if he hadn't heard her and keeps talking.

"...her. I thought it _was_ her for a moment... How closely related are they?"

Sango has to search her memory before the relationships come back to her. "Uh... third cousins, I think. Her parents are first cousins to the King, so...yes, second cousin to Kiku, and third to...Ki.... her daughters."

Inuyasha nods absently, glad that the woman beside had corrected herself at the last moment. He preferred to keep that aspect of his past as far from the present as possible.

"She'll be twenty in June?"

"That's what you told me."

"What's wrong with her?" he asks suddenly, as if the thought had only just occurred to him. Truth be told, he had been wondering about that over the past three months, ever since Miroku had left to escort Lord Rokku and his family to the capital city. The guard had only grinned and told him that Kagome was as stubborn as he when Inuyasha had asked.

"She's seems fine to me. I like her," Sango responds coldly, her cinnamon eyes glaring daggers into the side of the boy's head.

Inuyasha chances a glance at the apprentice, but doesn't respond immediately. He turns and continues to watch the distant figure until it disappears, then looks back to Sango, who was muttering to herself about a pregnant girl. He nods toward the open causeway between the buildings, indicating they should go, before speaking. His utterance comes across as so uncomprehensibly testy that Sango can't bring herself to respond due to her consternation.

"We'll see then."

-- -- -- -- -- --

_Well, at least he's thinking about it..._

Kagome mentally congratulates herself on getting Miroku to do that much, then pushes the stubborn guard out of her mind as she wanders through the Gauntlet. She smiles reminscently as she notices a familiar stable here, a practice ring there, the name of the Compound coming back to her as she overhears several guards speaking about the Exhibition later in the summer. She had completely forgotten about the event, and was immeasurably glad that they had lucked out in visiting Tama Shima in a year when one would be taking place.

The girl continues on, earning appreciative glances from several of the men in the Guard as she passes, though she does nothing more than smile politely in return. She could not in good conscience give any of them encouragement. She was already obligated to another.

_I'm going to kill Miroku...many more times..._

The young woman had already given the guardsman her opinion on the situation, but Miroku had held firm against her recrimination: He still insisted that she and the dirt-covered blacksmith would be good for one another.

_Yes...good enemies..._ Kagome thinks, scowling, as she remembers the hate-filled glare that had greeted her when Inuyasha had first set his gaze upon her. The image of another set of eyes unexpectedly superimposes over the cerulean orbs, ones that were a dark, shimmering gold.

_Where did that come from?_ the girl asks herself, bewildered, as there was nothing at all similar about the two. She shakes both visions from her mind as someone nearby yells her name.

"Kagome!"

The girl turns to discover a tall young man hurrying in her direction, his chin-length, dirty-blonde locks falling into his blue-grey eyes so that he has to push them out of the way. He comes to a stop a few feet away, grinning so widely at her with his perfect smile that Kagome can feel herself blushing.

"Yes?" she asks, studying the man carefully. He looked familiar....

"You don't remember me?" he asks, teasingly. "We used to cause our mothers such trouble..."

Kagome gasps as the boy's name comes back to her, before she throws herself at him in a tremendous hug.

"Kaidan! Kai?! But...you don't look anything like you!" she says, leaning away to get another glimpse of him. "You used to be a such a little thing!"

Said 'thing' frowns, but without any real anger behind it. "I've grown up, Kagome," he says, releasing all of the girl except for her hands, which he uses to turn her slightly back and forth. "And I see that I'm not the only one."

Kagome finds her blush returning full force, and quickly releases the young man's hands, earning a chuckle in return. "Well, we can't have stayed children forever. But you look nothing like your father! I thought you'd look exactly like him... Everyone used to say so...," she says, examining Kai with a critical eye.

"Yes, but that when I was 11, and it's been a few years since then. Sorairo does, except for the eyes, and so will Honon, someday. I take after mom's family more than dad's."

The second child to the King and Queen was at least a head taller than Kagome, thin, but solidly built. His facial features, however, were soft for a male's, as though he hadn't quite gotten rid of the roundness that accompanied childhood. They were also very expressive, but he had always been that way. He was fairly tanned and wearing what looked like a basic tunic and breeches, like every guard she had so far wandered past.

"What...are you practicing with the _Guard_?" the girl asks, as she takes in Kai's dress, her expression betraying her astonishment. Besides the fact that his father shouldn't have allowed such a thing, Kai had always been somewhat prissy when it came to the men (and some women) who were responsible for protecting the royal family and their city. Being of a noble birthline, he considered it to be a 'commoners' or 'lowly' work, and deemed it beneath him, as it required physical prowess. He would throw a tantrum whenever his father commanded him to swordplay.

"Er...well, yes," Kai answers, his ears and the apples of his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "I've been with the 2nd Company for almost 5 years now."

Kagome is so stunned that she can only gape at the young man in front of her, one hand waving vaguely in the air, though there's no sound to accompany the action.

"You're wondering why I changed my mind?" he asks, giving the dark-haired girl a shrewd glance, breaking into another grin when she nods mutely at him.

"It was Sorairo, mostly," he says, just a hint of irritation in his tone. "He had just started training here. My head was too big for my breeches, and thought there was no way it would happen, so I bet him that he couldn't last 5 minutes against old Fuda. You remember Fuda, don't you?"

Kagome nods, smiling warmly at the memory of the gnarled but paternal guard that used to sneak her onto stabled mounts when her parents weren't looking. She glances up to Kai a moment later, then looks around to the men and buildings around them, a frown now marring her face. The elderly guardsman had always seemed to be everywhere whenever she had visited the city previously--grooming a horse here, repairing a saddle there, moving hay to the stables. If he wasn't flitting around them now, then Kagome was positive she knew what had happened.

"It was just after I was posted to the 2nd," Kai says, reading the troubled look in the girl's eyes. "It was peaceful, though. Went in his sleep, I was told."

Kagome nods, a pang of sadness leaving her unable to respond. She had always admired the elderly guard. The two are quiet for several moments, in silent remembrance, before the young guardsman continues with his explanation.

"Uh...well, I lost, of course. Fuda may have been old, but that had never stopped him from checking all the new recruits the minute they walked through the gate. But Sorairo was better than even Father knew, as it turned out, which is why he's letting us train with the Guard. Also, Sora was determined to show me how wrong I was," Kai says, now obviously annoyed. "He's head of the First Company."

"Really?" Kagome asks, glancing around again, as if she might see the man and his Company walking past them right that minute.

"Yep," Kai says, with a hint of a grin. "Never misses a chance to flaunt it, either."

"Are you sure you're not just jealous?" Kagome asks, her tone quiet. It was fairly obvious that she was trying to hide the giggles threatening to spill out of her. "He never seemed the type to brag about such things." Kai gives the struggling girl a beady look before answering.

"Well....maybe a bit," he admits, now scowling. "But he won't let me forget that I had to spend a week with him and his mates; not that that wasn't exactly what I needed. Joined the Guard the minute I turned 15. Still.... Sora had to dress me by the third day; couldn't lift my arms higher than my waist...."

Kagome forgoes trying to hold back her giggles, the mental image of a young Kai trying to swing a sword as big as he was, and having his older brother dress him being too much to hold in. Kai crosses his arms and rolls his eyes, waiting for the fit to subside.

"Wh....where is he now?" she finally asks, getting control of herself. "I'd like to see him."

Kai frowns a moment, glancing back to the guards he had left, who were milling around an open door to a building that didn't look like anything like a barracks to Kagome. It was one and half times as tall, and more than twice as long, with multiple windows set near the roof and a large, brick chimney at one end. She wonders if it's a mess hall.

"He's supposed to be leading a group to Chusei; one of the raiders was overheard speaking of it, and Boei thinks we might find the ones who escaped there. They should be leaving soon; the storm Nazorei predicted is supposed to be here by nightfall."

Kagome doesn't have time to wonder who Nazorei is, as several shouts and the sounds of breaking and splintering wood floats across the short expanse of gently waving grass beneath their feet. The pair immediately glances over, the young woman stifling a gasp as a man comes flying out of the doorway, crashing into and knocking over several of the men in Kai's company. The fallen group mutters angrily among themselves, some yelling back into the hall as they stand. All move quickly out of the way a moment later, though, as what looks like half of a heavy wooden bench follows the man out the door, flipping end-over-end twice before coming to rest. It's succeeded by half a dozen wooden bowls, which spill their contents over debris and men lying on the ground.

"What in the....?"

Kai takes several steps toward the commotion, but is stopped by someone yelling his name. He and Kagome turn toward the sound of hoofbeats.

The girl has to hold back another gasp as a man slides his mount to a stop only a few yards away, kicking up clods of dirt and grass. He jumps from the saddle and lands on his feet, almost as if he was a cat. Glancing between the pair through his white-blonde locks, which had fallen into his eyes, Kagome has only a moment to see the anger behind the silver-grey irises, before the man begins striding toward hall, where the sounds of a many-personed fight are beginning to echo.

"Kai!"

The man beside her jumps at the sudden snapping of his name. He gives her an apologetic glance, his expression somewhat abashed.

"You wanted to see Sora," he says, as he hurries off after the Crown Prince.

* * *

Yes, there are 6 royal kids. If you're having trouble remembering, they are:

Sorairo (24 years old, white-blonde hair, and dark grey, silver-tinted eyes; he was misnamed, if anyone knows what his name really means ;P); Kaidan (20, dark blonde, blue-grey eyes); Usagi/Amaya (16, strawberry-blonde, smoky-grey eyes); Honon (12, golden blonde, blue eyes); and Iemi (7, golden blonde, blue eyes). Queen Nusema has dark blonde hair and smoky-grey eyes, and Alaidir is now silver-haired, but was a light blonde when he was younger, and has bright blue eyes. We'll see him eventually, as we will Boei. Everyone properly lost yet? :)


End file.
